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Google will drop Google Apps Connector support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server on March 5, 2015

Google today announced it is dropping support for Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server on March 5, 2015. The tool in question allows BlackBerry 7 OS and older devices to connect to Google Apps for Business, Education and Government through the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES).

The company says that since BlackBerry no longer supports the version of BES that the Connector needs, and the latest BlackBerry devices also do not require a BES, it has decided to end support. If you have an old BlackBerry and you connect to Google Apps with BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5.0.3, you’ll want to consider your options.

Google has conveniently laid these out for you:

Android and iOS: These devices have native apps that support Google Apps.

BlackBerry 10 OS: If you update your device to BlackBerry 10 OS, you can connect to Google Apps using established sync protocols like Google Sync, as well as IMAP, CalDAV, and CardDAV.

BlackBerry 7 OS and older devices: If you want to keep using your older device through March 2015, you can access mail.google.com and calendar.google.com from your browser.

Thankfully, Google has given BlackBerry users ample time to figure out which path to take (read: you can use Google Apps just as long as you don’t upgrade to Windows Phone). The same can’t be said for IE8 and IE9 users – Google Apps support was dropped very quickly in those cases.

In short, next year it will be harder to keep using your old BlackBerry with Google Apps. That being said, next year it will be harder to keep using your old BlackBerry with just about anything.